Steve Bachar has been sued again by dialysis giant DaVita over money it paid for N95 masks. (BusinessDen file photos)
Steve Bachar, a Denver businessman and attorney who faces criminal charges of securities fraud and theft, has been sued for a second time by DaVita, which says it paid Bachar $605,000 for N95 masks in April 2020, received nothing in return and still wants its money back.
The dialysis giant first sued Bachar in October 2020 and won a judgment against him for more than $700,000. DaVita now claims that Bachar “repeatedly represented that he intended to pay the owed funds, plus interest.” The two sides agreed to settle for $650,000, according to DaVita.
“Bachar’s settlement offer included payment on or before Dec. 10, 2021,” the company wrote in its latest lawsuit, filed June 10 in Denver District Court. “DaVita accepted Bachar’s offer and the parties memorialized this agreement. However, despite their representations, (Bachar and his company) have failed and refused to make the agreed upon payment.”
DaVita says it ordered 4,200 cases of N95 masks from Bachar and his company, Empowerment Health, in the early days of the pandemic. The masks were to cost $2.4 million, so DaVita sent 25 percent of that, about $605,000, as an initial payment, its lawsuit states.
Bachar told DaVita that he couldn’t acquire the masks quickly and two days later DaVita canceled its order and asked for its money back, the company claims. “To date, defendants have failed to return a single dollar of DaVita’s $604,800,” DaVita’s lawsuit states.
Bachar, 56, did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment Tuesday.
Steve Bachar and his wife Angela Feddersen.
The Denver lawyer was scheduled to be arraigned Monday on one count of securities fraud and one count of theft of more than $100,000, but that arraignment was rescheduled for Aug. 1. The felony charges are unrelated to the allegations that he didn’t pay DaVita back.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office alleges that in 2017 Bachar contacted an old friend who worked with him on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and in the subsequent Clinton administration. Bachar offered the friend, who was struggling financially, an opportunity to invest in a company called Revolvar that made small panic buttons for women, prosecutors alleged.
Bachar hyped the investment as a sure bet, so his friend invested $125,000 in Revolvar, but Bachar spent that money on personal expenses, according to prosecutors. Bachar faces up to 12 years in prison and is being represented by a public defender in the case.
Bachar also owes $3.8 million to Future Health Co., which won a court judgment against him last year. Future Health claimed that Bachar was hired to act as a middleman between Future Health and the state of Wisconsin, which needed three million medical gowns in 2020, but kept the money he was paid by Wisconsin and never paid Future Health for those gowns. Future Health’s owner said Tuesday the company has yet to be paid a single dollar.
Bachar also faces another civil lawsuit in Denver District Court. Robert Hanfling sued Bachar in February, alleging Bachar hasn’t repaid a $99,000 promissory note issued 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, Bachar’s Colorado law license is currently suspended for not paying fees.
